Tracking a shipped car: questions and answers

Call the company you hired, and use the status tools that company gave you after a carrier was assigned. A status is a note on the order. It is only as current as the last update. It does not, by itself, prove which truck has the car or where that truck is at a given minute, unless the carrier is actually sending that data. A quote is not a tracking number.

A vehicle identification number identifies the car. Under 49 CFR 565.15 it uses 17 characters, with a check digit in position 9. NHTSA's decoder reads manufacturer-reported fields. It does not read a GPS point, a truck number, or a driver's name. A company can store the VIN on your order and type a status next to it. That page is only as current as the last update. Ask the carrier, not a decoder, where the car is.

No. A live location comes from the carrier that has the car, and only if that carrier is sending it. RideShipper shows a price range and, if you request quotes, passes the request to licensed auto transport companies that serve the route. A moving dot on a company's page is that company's data. It can be a typed status rather than a GPS feed. Ask what the dot means. If they will not say, treat it as a status, not a location.

You cannot track a truck that is not assigned. A quote, a deposit, or a first available date means the company may still be searching for a carrier. Tracking, if it exists, starts when a carrier accepts the car and the company gives you that carrier's name. Ask for the MC or USDOT number at that point and check it on the FMCSA Company Snapshot. Until then, the honest status is that no carrier has the car.

When a carrier is assigned, ask for the carrier's name, its MC or USDOT number, a phone number for dispatch, the pickup window, and how they will update you. Write those down. Check the number on the FMCSA Company Snapshot before you give the keys. Ask whether their tracking page is a typed status or a location feed. If the only update is a text from a new number, call the company on the number you already had.

Call the company on the contract, using the phone number in that paperwork, and ask when the status was last updated and what the next event is. Ask them to split days until pickup from days after pickup. A status that does not change can mean the search is still open, or it can mean nobody typed an update. If a carrier was named, ask that carrier's dispatch for the window they will actually run.

Transit time is the days after pickup, planned as a range, not the days since you received a quote. An ETA is a current estimate of arrival, and it moves when the truck picks up or delivers other cars. Neither one is a promise unless the contract says so. Ask for both numbers in writing: the pickup window, and the days after the car is on the truck. When dispatch names a window, that window replaces a planning model.

A bill of lading is the receipt for the car. It identifies the shipment and the condition notes you sign. It is not a GPS device. Interstate carriers covered by federal law issue a receipt or bill of lading. Keep your copy. It helps if there is damage or a dispute about who had the car. It does not show the truck's minute-by-minute location. For location, you still ask the carrier that has the car.

Then you do not have tracking. Ask the company you paid, in writing, for the carrier's name and a status. If no carrier has been assigned, say so to yourself and decide whether the contract lets you cancel. A company that will not name the carrier before pickup is a reason to stop, not a reason to hand over the keys. The FMCSA snapshot checks a company. It does not locate a car.